In the battle to win over libraries formerly served by the now closed Baker & Taylor, Follett Content has announced the hiring of new public library specialists as well as making “targeted” investments in new technology.

The aim, the company said, is to “quickly scale its capabilities, deepen its expertise, and bring additional choice and stability to public libraries.” In October, not long after B&T announced its intention to close, Follett Content, which specializes in the school library market, began to assemble a team to fill in the hole in the public library market left by the B&T collapse.

According to the new announcement, Follett has brought on board more than 10 professionals with more than 300 years of collective public library experience – including individuals who previously held roles at B&T. “Public libraries made it clear that trusted relationships and deep institutional knowledge matter,” said Britten Follett, CEO of Follett Content, in a statement. “Our newest team members embody that. They’ve supported public libraries for decades, and their passion for this market is an essential part of where we’re headed.”

One new member of the team is Fred D. Harvey, who is senior business development executive – public libraries, who has worked with libraries for 37 years. The Follett Content team, Harvey said, "understands public library needs and has the capacity, resources, and resolve to help address the significant gap left by the exit of a longtime industry leader."

On the technology infrastructure side, enhancements include:

• Brief MARC accessibility

• Support for complex grids

• EDI ordering and invoicing capabilities

• Account management enhancements

Follett said the new upgrades, as well as other enhancements, are currently underway and are expected to roll out this year, though the company could not provide launch dates at press time.

The Follett Content announcement comes about two weeks after Ingram Library Services announced it had ramped up its hiring efforts in the public library space, including the appointment of a director of sales, Zuanarda “Z” Causey.